King Kasch, the First Mercenary

King Kasch , of the Freeblades (a.k.a. The Mercenary That Walked)

"Hold. Stop the wagon." Siegfried raised a hand, and Vance dropped the clutch, with the wagon rolling to a halt on the traderoad west of Port Ives. Vance saw the reason for the stop. A stone monument off the side of the road, inscription weathered into nothing, but unmistakable in its portrayal of a stone sword, blade embedded in the plinth at an angle, with a fist gripping the handle. The symbol of the Mercenary's Guild, but before that, the symbology of the monuments to King Kasch, scattered across the south.
Both Mercenaries stepped off the wagon and presented their own insignia to the statue, the yellow grip in the insignia holding the sword in reverse as it dangled from their neck chains. Siegfried stepped forward and rubbed some moss off of the monument. "I should send one of the class C mercenaries around to make sure these monuments are all maintained appropriately."
"I'm not against paying homage myself, but sending a qualified mercenary to do ordinary maintenance seems like a mistake, even if they would be just some sixteen year old." Vance pushed his insignia back under his vest. "And it would be unseemly to use the task of cleaning monuments to the First Mercenary as a punishment."
"Noted, and fair enough." Siegfried unbuckled his sheathed sword and held it up. "Hundreds of years have passed, and yet our swords are still the same shape as they were in King Kasch's day. I wonder what he would have thought of Etoilean Progress."

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Discussions of King Kasch's physicality are skewed by mythology. Legendary accounts place him as a giant, near seven feet high, a colossal man wielding an enormous sword as though it was merely a toothpick, able to cut down legions of men by himself. While clearly ridiculous, there is no historical information one way or another regarding his physical size; only assumptions that he must have been a reasonably strong and skilled fighter to find success as a prehistoric freeblade.

Specialized Equipment

Notably, Kasch was known for not having a specific weapon; his legend contains several statements of him being dismissive of legendary blades as fanciful nonsense. This may have been the result of several duels King Kasch fought during his conquest, against at-the-time legendary warriors wielding named swords and relics - his ability to soundly defeat these men may have contributed to this attitude. Several weapons in museums in the south of the Principality of Etoile are claimed to have been at one point the personal weapon of the First Mercenary, but their provenance is impossible to prove.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

According to legend and the official lore of the Mercenary's Guild, the man who would be known as King Kasch first made his mark on history as a independent freeblade, those ancient warriors who wielded their blades merely for their next meal and coin. In prehistorical times, freeblades were notorious for being fickle and switching their loyalties at the drop of a coin. This was well known, and the kings and warlords of this era of history were equally quick to betrayal, often disposing of their hired freeblades the moment they no longer became necessary to their battle plans. It was in this environment where Kasch's actions gained great renown.
Hired by a nameless princeling battling for victory in a succession crisis, Kasch was one of a company of freeblades of ill repute, intentionally placed in a weak part of the battle line in order to bait an enemy charge and allow for an envelopment. The death of the company commander in the ensuing battle threatened a rout, but Kasch instead was able to rally the remaining freeblades to fight - not for the princeling, but for their own mutual survival in the melee carnage. Their heroics went unheeded, however; while the battle line held and the princeling was victorious, he did not survive the battle, having been betrayed and killed by a freeblade of comparatively high reputation, who was bought and paid for.
While all of the surviving freeblades involved in the battle were pardoned (and even paid, in a gesture of magnanimity by the winner), Kasch found himself wondering why career soldiers and warriors who fought with valor and honor were treated similarly to the cutthroats and betrayers, merely because they had no particular loyalty to either side of a conflict. To this end, he began to gather men he trusted, veterans who had fought with him and respected him, into his very own freeblade company, Kasch's Own Infantry.
Within a few years, Kasch's Own became well known for their valor and loyalty, and careful selection of freeblade applicants for those same qualities. Kasch himself became famed for both winning in battle and preserving the lives of his men; his innovative battle tactics and discipline minimized casualties, and Kasch would pay generous death reparations. Their growing fame and Kasch's personal leadership was seen as a threat, however, by many of the small lords and kings of the era. Military conflicts in this time were far smaller than they are today, and when Kasch's Own joined a formation, they usually were equal in quantity to the actual soldiers fighting for a cause.
Naturally, this prompted a betrayal - Kasch's Own were involved in a territorial dispute, and, when victory seemed assured, Kasch himself was recalled on false charges of traitorous conduct. Taking only two men with him, he faced the lord he served and refused to bow, famously stating,
"If I die, I will die standing, either on the battlefield with my blade out, or in a throne room, with a knife in the back. Yet I will not kneel for the executioner for acts I did not commit, and I will never go to my knees for a lord who would resort to such calumny."
This statement turned all in the room against the lord, who was imprisoned and later executed for his unworthiness, and after the battle, Kasch was crowned King Kasch by his men and the soldiers of both sides of the conflict, who preferred Kasch as a leader over the lords that they served prior.
Kasch's conquest of much of what is now the central and southern deserts of western Saibh was legendary for its bloodlessness. King Kasch was widely renowned and revered by fighting men, who often refused to give battle and ended up joining his forces instead. Kasch's kingdom was at its peak when he passed away from plague; the division of his kingdom was similarly bloodless, and did not devolve into internecine warfare as so many of the succession crises did during his lifetime. Upon his death, the profession of 'Freeblade' was put to rest - soldiers who fought for coin and honor were to be named 'Mercenary', adhering to the strict code of conduct that Kasch upheld, as the First Mercenary. Kasch himself was buried in an unmarked grave, as per his wishes, though old stone monuments to him can be found scattered across the reaches. Of the titles ascribed to him, he rejected them all during his lifetime, other than that of 'The Mercenary That Walked', an expression of his habit of walking amongst his freeblades, rather than riding a commander's horse above them.
As this is a largely legendary account, very little of it can be confirmed with any certainty, other than Kasch himself existing, at one point unifying a number of pre-historical states, and having his legend and reputation passed down through history. The Mercenary's Guild promulgates this legend as historical fact, and considers King Kasch their guiding example and paragon of the ideal Mercenary.

Morality & Philosophy

King Kasch was no paragon or saint, and in legend was as rowdy and uncouth as any soldier. His sense of honor was unique for his era, however, a code of ethic that refused pragmatism and upheld loyalty and duty, not to a specific lord or king, but to his fellow fighting man and soldier. It was this quality that earned the loyalty of the freeblades that followed Kasch on his crowning and through his conquests.

Reign

King Kasch only reigned as King for less than a year before his death, and spent most of that time in his campaign of conquest, and most of that time at negotiating tables rather than on the field. Despite this, he is universally referred to as a King as a sign of respect.

Honorary & Occupational Titles

The Last Freeblade
The First Mercenary
The Mercenary That Walked

Sex

Male

Eyes

Black

Hair

Black

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Dark brown

Height

By legend, 6'8"

Weight

>300lb

Quotes & Catchphrases

"A blade is a tool, incapable of betrayal. Only the hand that wields it may turn it against it's own honor."

"You name me King, but I am only what I have been for my entire adult life, merely a Freeblade, fighting for the rights of other Freeblades. What you name me is of interest only to you, not me."